WHO NEEDS TO BE BAPTIZED?

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Introduction — A Story Begins at the River

Imagine standing on the bank of the Jordan River early in the morning. The mist rises like a thin veil, the kind that makes the world feel hushed and holy. You hear water moving over stones. You see crowds gathering—tax collectors, soldiers, mothers, fishermen, the discouraged, the curious, the repentant. They're all there because a strange prophet named John has been calling Israel back to God.

Everyone is watching the water.

And then someone else arrives.

Someone no one expected.

Someone whose very presence will change the story of humanity.

Matthew says simply, "Then Jesus came…"
And with those words, the story of the world shifts.

Today, we walk into that story—not simply to admire Jesus' baptism, but to understand what it reveals about God, about us, and about why every human being is invited into this water.

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EXPOSITION OF MATTHEW 3:13–17

1. JESUS COMES TO US (Matthew 3:13)

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him."

The story begins with movement.

But it's not the crowds moving toward Jesus.
It's Jesus moving toward us.

That is always where the gospel begins.

As GCI's theology emphasizes: Jesus is the God who comes to us, not the God we climb up to.
The Father sends the Son into the far country of human existence. The Son steps fully into our humanity—into our pain, into our fears, into our lostness.

In this story, Jesus does not stand on a hill demanding repentance.
He walks into the wilderness.

He walks into the mud.
He walks into the river of sinners.

This is already an epiphany—a revelation:
God is not distant. God draws near.

Have you heard someone say, "I keep waiting to feel worthy enough to get baptized."
No need to wait.

Jesus' baptism shows the opposite: God steps toward us long before we ever step toward Him.
Before we repent, before we understand, before we respond—
Jesus comes.

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2. GRACE PERSISTS (Matthew 3:14–15)

When Jesus approaches, John freezes.

"John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?'"

You can almost hear John's voice shaking.
He knows who is standing before him.
He knows he is the sinner in this water, not Jesus.

John's instinct is to say,
"Lord, I'm not worthy. You shouldn't be here."

Isn't that often our instinct too?

But Jesus doesn't turn around.
He doesn't choose a more "appropriate" person.
He doesn't wait for someone holier.

Instead, He answers:

"Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness."

Grace persists.

GCI's theology speaks about Jesus as the Representative and Substitute for all humanity—entering our place, responding to the Father on our behalf, doing for us what we could never do alone.

That's what's happening here.

Jesus isn't baptized because He needs repentance.
He is baptized because we need repentance.

He steps into the water for us.
He stands where we should stand.
He fulfills what we could never fulfill.

This is grace in action—
God doing for humanity what humanity cannot do on its own.

And the moment Jesus speaks those words, Matthew says:

"Then he consented."

Even John's obedience is caught up in Jesus' obedience.

In the same way, even our "yes" to God is carried by Jesus' "Yes" to the Father.
We participate in His perfect response.

Grace initiates—and grace completes.

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3. WHO NEEDS TO BE BAPTIZED? (Matthew 3:14–15)

John's question—
"Do you come to me?"
—explodes into the larger question:

Who actually needs baptism?

According to GCI's theology, baptism is not a human work earning God's acceptance.
It is our participation in what Christ has already done for all humanity.

Jesus' baptism shows:

• Humanity needs to be baptized.
• And Jesus steps into the water on behalf of humanity.

He enters our broken story in order to take us into His healed story.
He enters our sin-drenched waters so we can enter His Spirit-drenched life.

He is baptized for the whole human race—
so that in Him, every human being might be lifted into communion with Father, Son, and Spirit.

The question "Who needs to be baptized?" finds its answer in the river:

We all do—and Jesus goes first, for all of us.

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4. BAPTIZED INTO THE LIFE OF THE TRINITY (Matthew 3:16–17)

Now the story explodes with glory.

a. "The heavens were opened" (v. 16)

When Jesus rises from the water, Matthew says:

"The heavens were opened to Him."

This is creation language.

At the dawn of creation, the Spirit hovered over the waters.
Now, at the dawn of new creation, the Spirit descends again.

The world is being re-made in Christ.

Humanity, once alienated from God in our minds, now sees the heavens opened.
In Jesus, heaven and earth meet.

b. "The Spirit of God descended like a dove" (v. 16)

The Spirit rests on Jesus.

Not because Jesus lacked the Spirit, but because we do.

He receives the Spirit in His humanity so that humanity may receive the Spirit through Him.

As GCI emphasizes:
The Spirit unites us to Christ so that we may share in His relationship with the Father.

The dove reminds us of Noah's story—
a sign of peace, the end of judgment, the beginning of restoration.

In Jesus, humanity's floodwaters of judgment recede, and God's peace returns.

c. "A voice from heaven said…" (v. 17)

Then comes the voice—
the voice all creation aches to hear.

"This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

This is not only a declaration about Jesus—
it is a declaration for us.

In Christ, we too become:

• Children of the Father
• Beloved
• Pleasing in His sight

GCI's theology beautifully emphasizes:
The Father's love for the Son is the same love He shares with us through the Son.

What Jesus hears here, we hear in Him:

"You are my child."
"You are beloved."
"I delight in you."

This is our true identity.

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5. BAPTISM IS BELONGING AND CALLING (Mission) (Matthew 3:16–17)

Jesus' baptism doesn't end the story—it launches it.

Immediately after this heavenly moment, Jesus is sent by the Spirit into the wilderness and then into ministry.

Likewise, baptism is:

• Not an escape from the world
• But a commissioning into God's redemptive mission

We share in the Son's relationship,
and we share in the Son's mission.

GCI often says:

The Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Spirit, and the Spirit sends the Church.

So baptism signals:

• Belonging — We are God's beloved children.
• Transformation — We participate in Christ's life.
• Calling — We join Jesus in His mission of love, healing, and reconciliation.

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6. LIVING IN THE REALITY OF OUR BAPTISM

But here's the challenge:

We forget.

Life gets noisy.
Shame gets loud.
The world tells us we don't belong.

That's why the Church—across centuries—keeps returning to this story, especially during Epiphany.

This story is not simply the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
It is the beginning of our identity.

It re-centers us in these truths:

• The heavens are open.
• The Spirit is given.
• The Father's love is spoken over us.
• We belong to the Triune God.
• We are invited into Jesus' life.

A pastor once said, "I don't feel worthy of God's love anymore."
I reminded him of this story:

"Jesus stepped into the water before you ever stepped toward Him."

The good news is not that we hold onto God.
It's that God holds onto us in Christ—and invites us to live out of that belonging.

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Conclusion — The Story Continues

So who needs to be baptized?

All of us.
And Jesus Himself goes first—on behalf of all humanity.

At the Jordan River, the Triune God reveals His heart:

• The Son enters our water.
• The Spirit descends into our humanity.
• The Father speaks His eternal love.

And in that moment, Jesus opens a new way of being human—
a life in communion with Father, Son, and Spirit.

The heavens are still open.
The Spirit is still descending.
The Father is still speaking:

"You are my beloved child.
With you I am well pleased."

Amen.

Original Sermon:

https://equipper.gci.org/2025/12/sermon-for-january-11-2026-baptism-of-the-lord